Christ Assembly │ The Miracle of Memory

Christ Assembly │ The Miracle of Memory

The Miracle of Inspiration

Part One

The Miracle of Memory

John 14:23-26

God breathed the Bible through men to reveal Himself and His Message. God worked miraculously because He imparted special, perfect revelations and prevented all errors from seeping into the written record of His revelation. The Holy Spirit of God also worked miraculously in bringing all the teaching and words of Jesus to the minds of His disciples (John 14:26, page 1685). Such perfect memory, divinely guaranteed as complete and accurate, constituted a wonderful miracle. Through the Bible God revealed His love, emotions, plans, and everything else we need to know about God and our spiritual lives. Apart from His revelation, we would not have known His ways or His thoughts, which stand far above our ways and our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-11,; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). He pronounced His Word complete so that the man of God may be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16). Although God completed His written revelation with the New Testament, God also described His word as “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). His Word lives.

The Miracle of Memory. Jesus made a special point of prophesying about various ministries of the Holy Spirit in the lives of His disciples. Just before sinful men arrested Jesus, He spoke to His disciples about their future. Jesus let them know that loving Him would continue after He left. He also promised that He and the Father would spiritually abide with each one of them (Judas Iscariot had left), and with everyone who loves Jesus and keeps His word. Jesus directed their attention to the connection between His word and God’s love.

John 14:23, Page 1685

“Jesus answer and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

Keep My Word. In John 14:23, page 1685 Jesus answered a question about disclosing Himself to the disciples and not to the world. Jesus said: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My father will love him, and We will make our abode with him.” Jesus revealed that He would disclose Himself to the disciples as they keep His word. They will keep His word because they love Him. The disclosure here means that both the Son and the Father would abide with them and that disclosure would be ongoing in the future. Spiritually, both Father and Son would have an eternal relationship of loving disclosure to each disciple, and by implication, to all believers in all generations. Jesus and the Father do not sit mutely within the believer; they live in active disclosure with the believer. Through the words of Jesus, given by the Father, they speak to us and make their loving presence felt in our lives every day. But not everyone would receive the word of Jesus, and not everyone would love Him.

John 14:24, Page 1685

“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent me.”

The Father’s Words. In John 14:24, page 1685 Jesus tied loving Him to keeping His word: “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” Jesus repeatedly emphasized to His disciples that He spoke the Father’s word, not His own. This basic revelation from the Father through the Son to humanity set the pattern for the ministry of the Gospel to the world. Jesus did not commingle His own words with the Father’s words, but rather obediently proclaimed those words as given by the Father.

John 14:25, Page 1685

“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.”

Abiding with You. In John 14:25, page 1685, Jesus declared that He spoke the Father’s words while abiding with the disciples: “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.” This verse implies the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the Father in speaking thewords of God the Father while living with the disciples. Apparently, the Lord Jesus Christ did not expect that the disciples had written down all those words, or that they had memorized all of them. They may have made notes, or memorized some of His words, but the Lord Jesus emphasized that He was speaking thewords from God the Father while with the disciples. The Lord Jesus Christ recognized the role of the Holy Spirit in continuing the revelatory work of the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, after the Lord Jesus Christ had ascended.

John 14:26, Page 1685

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

Bring to Your Remembrance. In John 14:26, page 1685, Jesus prophesied about a particular miracle for the disciples. That miracle would take place after Jesus had been crucified and raised from the dead. Jesus revealed that the Holy Spirit would provide two specific types of divine, supernatural help: (1) helping them learn new things and (2) helping them remember past things. As part of the ongoing disclosure, Jesus explained the process of further revelation for believers and how He would build His church. Through the disciples, He would spread the revelation and then record it for future generations. Jesus focused particular attention upon the Holy Spirit bringing to their mind the words of Jesus: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Jesus proclaimed that the Holy Spirit would bring to the remembrance of the disciples all the words of Jesus. Pay special attention to the word “all” in the preceding sentence. “All” the words of Jesus. He did not leave any out, or just convey the “gist.” The Bible claims word for word accuracy. In essence, the Holy Spirit will communicate with verbal, plenary inspiration. “All” means plenary in the sense of complete in every respect or total. “All” also means the words themselves. Since the Holy Spirit reminded the disciples of “all” the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, why would anyone say the Holy Spirit only reminded them of the “gist” of the message of Jesus Christ? Consider 2 Peter 1:21, page 1901,: “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” Was the Holy Spirit just communicating the “gist” of God’s message in the Bible? Of course not, and the Bible contains many passages showing that God communicated precise words with precise meanings. The disclosure to the disciples would be special and miraculous, because, for them, it would expand beyond the loving presence of the Father and Son abiding with them. The Holy Spirit would perform the miracle of bringing all the words of Jesus to the disciples as they proclaimed the Gospel to the world and recalled the facts of the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus promised a miracle of revelation. He fulfilled it in: (1) the preaching of the disciples under the influence of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:19-20, page 1515; Mark 13:11, page 1584; Luke 12:11-12, 1624; Acts 1:8, page 1699; Acts 2:4, page 1700; Acts 4:8, page 1705; Acts 4:31, page 1706); and (2) with the Holy Spirit moving men to write the New Testament (2 Peter 1:20-21, page 1901). The disciples not only provided eyewitness testimony, and preached Christ crucified and risen to the world, but they also had supernatural recollection of the facts. Every trial lawyer would love a witness that could never be impeached, even after two thousand years of cross examination. Despite the attacks upon the veracity of Scripture, God’s miracle of revelation continues to live and pierce the lives of His children with His truth and love.

So we learn about the inspiration of the Word of God today.

● The Word of God means that God breathed the Bible through the pens of the original authors of Scripture. Every word in the Bible accurately reflects the intention of God in writing it.

● The Word of God means that each word of the Bible accurately reflects the intention of God in writing it down. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He moved human authors to write down the revelation of God to human beings.

● The Word of God means that the Holy Spirit worked a miracle of memory with the disciples of Jesus and the authors of the Bible to record accurately the very words of Jesus Christ. Jesus received the words He spoke from the Father, and the Holy Spirit brought the very words of Jesus back to the minds of the disciples as they wrote Scripture.

Application for Today

Each of us should have complete faith and confidence in the Bible, because it contains the truth of God. The Word of God tells us about the mind of God, and His will for our lives. Jesus intended for us to read His words, and to have faith in hearing His words. As we read our Bibles today, we can truly hear and understand the revelation of God to us. Will you be sanctified in the truth of God’s word today?

Christ Assembly │ The Miracle of Memory

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Welcome !

Welcome to Christ Assembly. As born-again believers, baptized by Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, we love to glorify God through the study and application of His Word, the Bible. As we study the Bible, we seek to know God better, and to introduce others to the loving salvation of Jesus Christ received by faith alone.

We value the spiritual gifts bestowed upon every born-again Christian and seek to equip them for the work of service for Christ Jesus. Only through every saint using the spiritual gift(s) bestowed upon them will the body of Jesus Christ reach spiritual maturity and avoid being blown about by every wind of doctrine. May God have all the glory, always.
HALLELUJAH !

Spiritual Help

Eternal Life

People often ask me about how they can find spiritual peace. They tell me about their serious illness, divorce, drug addiction, alcoholism, and many other problems that grieve them. So many people share with me that they have never felt truly loved in their entire life, even though they have been married for decades, and have grandchildren. So many people feel a spiritual hunger and thirst within themselves. Jesus loves people and wants you to know all about His great love. He called it the greatest news anyone will ever hear. So, let me share with you about Jesus, Who loves you today. In Jesus, you can receive peace with God today. Jesus alone provides spiritual peace.

Romans 10:9

“Jesus asks you: ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?'”

Let me start with a question. Imagine you were to die today, and stand before Jesus Christ. Imagine further that Jesus looked at you and asked: “Why should I let you into My heaven?”
Take a moment and think about what you would say to Jesus. I have personally asked that question to hundreds and hundreds of people, if not thousands, one person at a time. Jesus always deals personally with you. He knows your name, and loves you personally. Jesus knows your good points and your bad points.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

As God in the flesh, Jesus totally understands who we are as sinners. Sinners fall short of the glory of God. Sin separates us from spiritual peace with God today. In God’s eyes, we all fall short of the glory of God. We do not act perfectly all of the time and so fall short of His glory. We tell lies, we think impure thoughts, we do things we know we should not have done. The road to peace with God starts with understanding that we all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God. As sinners, we tend to hide our sins in darkness, but Jesus helps us recognize that we are sinners and need to come into the light of God. We take the first steps down the path of peace with God by agreeing with God that we are sinners. God helps us walk down the path of peace with God by His divine power. Only by God’s power can I change my mind and accept the truth that I am a sinner. I must repent of my sin and seek God’s forgiveness for my sin. How do I find forgiveness?

Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus, the Son of God, offers forgiveness to sinners as a gift. In order to have peace with God, we must receive God’s gift of forgiveness. Before we can grasp God’s offer of forgiveness, we must understand God’s justice and how it works. God tells us that justice imposes a penalty upon sin. God said that the wages of sin is death. Just as we earn wages for our work, so sin earns the wage of death. This spiritual death results from us sinning and falling short of the glory of God. God cannot remain just, and simply ignore our sin. Justice requires that every sin be paid by the death penalty. You have sinned so you deserve to die spiritually. Sin causes the spiritual death of the sinner. Now let us focus upon the gift of God: forgiveness. As a sinner, deserving death, I really do not deserve a gift of eternal life. Instead of death, God wants me to have eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yet, my sin blocks me from having eternal life. To sinners God loves to give the free gift of eternal life. Although I have earned the death penalty by sinning, God offers me eternal life as a free Christmas gift. I cannot earn the gift of eternal life, and I do not deserve the gift of eternal life. God just wants me to have His gift of eternal life. God purchased the gift of eternal life, just for me, the sinner. Why would God give me gift of eternal life?

Romans 5:8

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God gives the free gift of eternal life to sinners because God loves sinners like me. The road to peace with God means that I learn and accept that God loves sinners. Jesus came to love sinners. While I was a sinner, God loved me. So many people think that God hates sinners, but God tells us just the opposite right in this verse. I do not have to clean up my life before God will love me. God loves sinners. God gives the gift of eternal life to sinners, not to perfect people. You see, the gift of eternal life means that I believe that Jesus as God died for me on the cross. I recognize that I deserve the death penalty because I sinned, but Jesus took my place on the cross and died for all my sin. He satisfied God’s justice by paying the death penalty for me. God now offers me a free gift of eternal life, because Jesus loves sinners, and gave His life to die on the cross to pay for all my sins. Jesus demonstrated God’s love for sinners. How do I accept the free gift of God?

Romans 10:9

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

You accept the free gift of God by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. We believe that God told us the truth that we fall short of the glory of God because we are sinners. Wonderfully, God loves sinners just like me. God purchased the gift of eternal life for me. I reach out by faith alone to accept the free gift from God. I believe that God sent Jesus as God in the flesh to die for me on the cross. Jesus paid the death penalty for me. Jesus satisfied the justice of God. New life in Jesus Christ begins with faith and continues for eternity. You can accept the free gift of eternal life right now, no matter where you are. Pray this prayer of faith.

Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and fall short of the glory of God.

Lord Jesus, I confess that I deserve the death penalty. I repent of my sins.

Lord Jesus, I believe that You died on the cross in my place, because You loved me and paid the death penalty for me.

Lord Jesus, I confess you as Lord of my life.

Lord Jesus, I believe that God raised You from the dead. I accept right now Your gift of forgiveness for all my sins, and thank You for saving me.

Amen.

If you prayed that prayer in faith, please send me an email through the contact box below. I look forward to getting to know you and help you walk daily with Jesus Christ. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit of God comes into our lives and makes us new creations. You have an abundant life in front of you, filled with joy and peace with God. We must learn from Jesus, and He is humble and gentle with us.